| | | | | |

Triple Therapy May Become New First-Line Treatment for Mesothelioma

ByAlex Strauss
First-Line Treatment for Mesothelioma

A combination of three powerful mesothelioma therapies could become a new first-line treatment for mesothelioma if an upcoming clinical trial is successful.

The makers of the experimental immunotherapy drug ONCOS-102 announced the new clinical trial. It will enroll up to 100 mesothelioma patients from around the world. 

The trial will test ONCOS-102 along with Keytruda (pembrolizumab) and standard chemotherapy. Keytruda is an immune checkpoint inhibitor. Both ONCOS-102 and Keytruda have shown some promise when combined with mesothelioma chemotherapy.

Targovax hopes that the triple therapy approach will produce an even more powerful first-line treatment for mesothelioma.

Clinic Trial of ONCOS-102

A first-line treatment is a treatment for mesothelioma patients who have not yet had any other therapies. Most patients start with chemotherapy with Alimta. But chemotherapy damages healthy cells along with cancer cells. This limits how much medicine doctors can give which can limit its effectiveness.

ONCOS-102 is special because it can target mesothelioma cells while leaving healthy cells alone. ONCOS-102 is made from a genetically modified virus that recognizes mesothelioma cells. When the virus gets inside the cells, it replicates itself many times over. This triggers an anti-cancer immune response. Norweigian drug maker Targovax produces ONCOS-102.

Tragovax released the early results of a Phase I/II clinical trial of ONCOS-102 in May. The trial tested ONCOS-102 along with chemotherapy as both a second- and a first-line treatment for mesothelioma patients who were not candidates for surgery. The results showed that it helped the chemotherapy work better. 

When Targovax released those findings, the company hinted that it might soon run a trial with another big drug company. Now, we know which company it is. 

Immunotherapy + Chemotherapy for First-Line Treatment of Mesothelioma

The drug maker involved in the new trial is New Jersey-based Merck and the drug is pembrolizumab (Keytruda). Keytruda is an immune checkpoint inhibitor.

Keytruda has also been the subject of tests as a first-line treatment for mesothelioma. Studies show that it helps some patients live longer when combined with chemotherapy. But it is only approved for mesothelioma patients who overexpress a protein called PD-L1. PD-L1 helps mesothelioma cells avoid immune system attack. Keytruda blocks that action. 

ONCOS-102 stimulates the immune system. It may also raise the level of PD-L1 in mesothelioma cells. Adding Keytruda might counter that effect and make ONCOS-102 even more powerful. 

“We believe the clinical immune activation data we have seen so far provide a strong scientific rationale for adding anti-PD-1 checkpoint blockade to the ONCOS-102 and chemotherapy combination in mesothelioma,” says Øystein Soug, CEO of Targovax.

New Trial Will Start Enrolling Within a Year

Up to 100 patients will enroll in the new trial in the US and Europe. These patients will receive either ONCOS-102, Keytruda, and chemotherapy or just Keytruda and chemotherapy as a first-line treatment for mesothelioma. This means patients cannot have had other treatments. 

Targovax says several cancer centers have expressed interest in the new trial. They hope to start enrolling patients within 12 months. 

“We are hopeful that the combination of ONCOS-102, pembrolizumab and chemotherapy will lead to improved outcomes for patients with this challenging disease who currently have few treatment alternatives,” says Soug. 

Sources:

“Targovax announces collaboration to evaluate ONCOS-102 in combination with KEYTRUDA® in mesothelioma”, June 23, 2020, News Release, Targovax website, https://www.targovax.com/en/targovax-announces-collaboration-to-evaluate-oncos-102-in-combination-with-keytruda-in-mesothelioma/

“Targovax releases update for mesothelioma trial combining ONCOS-102 and chemotherapy”, Targovax News Release, May 4, 2020, Targovax website, Accessed May 28, 2020, https://www.targovax.com/en/targovax-releases-update-for-mesothelioma-trial-combining-oncos-102-and-chemotherapy/

Similar Posts

Doctors Describe "Concrete Therapeutic Approach" for Mesothelioma
| |

Doctors Describe "Concrete Therapeutic Approach" for Mesothelioma

ByAlex Strauss

A team of medical researchers in Italy have achieved what they are calling “excellent” tumor control and survival results in malignant pleural mesothelioma patients using a combination of surgery, chemotherapy, and radiotherapy. Caused by exposure to asbestos, mesothelioma typically spreads quickly across the lung-encasing membrane called the pleura. There is no known cure but treatments are improving. In the current prospective study, 20 malignant pleural mesothelioma patients underwent radical pleurectomy/decortication followed by high doses of radiation. After surgeons removed as much of the visible mesothelioma tumor and surrounding tissue as possible, patients received 50Gy of radiation to the effected side of their chest, delivered in 25 fractions. Regions of particular concern for mesothelioma regrowth got an extra radiation “boost” to…

Mesothelioma Still Rising Despite Ban in Ireland
|

Mesothelioma Still Rising Despite Ban in Ireland

ByAlex Strauss

A study in Ireland confirms that it can take many years for a ban on asbestos to have a measurable impact on a country’s rates of malignant mesothelioma. Mesothelioma is the most serious of a list of diseases – including lung cancer, pleural plaques, asbestosis, and others – linked with exposure to asbestos dust. Affecting the linings around the lungs and other organs, mesothelioma is often resistant to most cancer treatments and may be fatal within a year of diagnosis. According to the International Ban Asbestos Secretariat, Ireland is one of 55 countries that have enacted some type of asbestos ban. However, although Ireland banned asbestos in 2000, a new study published in Cancer Epidemiology shows that incidence of the…

Does Radiotherapy Reduce Mesothelioma Pain?
| |

Does Radiotherapy Reduce Mesothelioma Pain?

ByAlex Strauss

A new study says there is not enough evidence to support the use of radiotherapy for the treatment of pain associated with malignant pleural mesothelioma. Researchers at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland reviewed a range of past studies on mesothelioma pain and radiotherapy by searching databases that date back as far as 1974. To be eligible to be included in their review, the study had to focus on malignant pleural mesothelioma and radiotherapy given “with the intent of improving pain”. The study also had to report doses and fractionation of the radiotherapy and how the pain responded. In all, the researchers found eight studies on mesothelioma pain and radiotherapy that met the criteria. Two of the studies were prospective…

Website Aims to Protect Homeowners from Mesothelioma
|

Website Aims to Protect Homeowners from Mesothelioma

ByAlex Strauss

Australia’s Cancer Council is trying to educate home renovators about their risk for mesothelioma with a new e-learning course. Australia has one of the highest per capita rates of mesothelioma in the world, largely because of several asbestos mining operations that were once located there. Although asbestos has been banned from building products in Australia since 1989, asbestos-linked diseases like mesothelioma, lung cancer, and asbestosis continue to pose a serious health concern. While mesothelioma has traditionally occurred among people exposed to asbestos on the job, Australia is now bracing for another “wave” of mesothelioma victims among homeowners who encounter asbestos while doing their own renovation projects. Cancer Council Australia has launched “kNOw asbestos in your home” in an effort to…

Ape Virus Shrinks Mesothelioma Tumors in Lab
|

Ape Virus Shrinks Mesothelioma Tumors in Lab

ByAlex Strauss

A virus that causes leukemia in gibbon apes may have the power to help fight malignant mesothelioma in people. Gibbon ape leukemia virus (GALV) has been tested for years as a viral vector, a carrier of therapeutic genetic information, in the treatment of various human illnesses, including cancer. A new study in Japan compared GALV with a leukemia virus derived from mice to see which carrier communicated most efficiently with mesothelioma cells. While both types of viruses replicated in most of the mesothelioma cell lines tested, the mouse-derived virus was not effective in a mesothelioma cell line called ACC-MESO-1. In this cell line, only the GALV spread efficiently both in culture and in mice that had been given human mesothelioma…

Radiotherapy for Mesothelioma: Better But Still Limited
| |

Radiotherapy for Mesothelioma: Better But Still Limited

ByAlex Strauss

A form of highly-targeted radiation therapy for mesothelioma is better than it used to be, but is still risky. That is the message of a recent article on intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) in Seminars in Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery. Author Kenneth E. Rosenzweig, MD, a Radiation Oncologist with Mount Sinai Hospital in New York, reviewed recent studies on IMRT and mesothelioma. He concludes that, while the “troubling toxicity” associated with IMRT when it was first introduced has not been entirely eliminated, the fact that clinicians now have more experience with it is making a positive difference for mesothelioma patients. Before targeted therapies like IMRT were available, high-dose radiation was not usually a feasible option for mesothelioma since the irregular shape…